New Braunfels restoration before and after

Picked up a very rusty New Braunfels smoker a week or so ago and after doing a couple of cooks on it to see how it performed I was so impressed I decided to spruce the old girl up a bit

Before

Stripped her down and sanded her the best I could, then gave her a new coat of high temp paint

After

Detail of wood shelf. Red Oak sanded and oiled

It pays to have a neighbor with a complete wood working shop. Took us about 20 minutes to turn out the new boards. Found a nice piece of Red Oak, planed it, ripped it, routed the edges just a tad and I was on my way. Thanks Jeb!

I didn't have any Oak dowels and didn't have time to turn some on the lath, so sanded down the originals and reused them. I bought all new bolts to reassemble her with

I even pulled the emblem off, cleaned it up, shot it with black paint, let it dry then sanded the face of it on the belt sander taking off the paint except for inside the recessed lettering making it look just like new

I'm very happy with it, but leave it to the Wife to dampen the enthusiasm. Got her all reassembled this morning, fired her up and went in the house for some iced tea and proudly proclaimed "Well, the smoker is done".First words out of her mouth was " Does it cook any better?"

With the size of this, are you adding drip pans at all? Also, how big a fire do you make in the Fire box? Nice to chat with someone with the same unit.

Thanks,

Dwayne

Yours don't look to shabby!

No drip pans. there is a hole in the bottom of the CC and I let juices run out there and collect in a bucket. When I'm done cooking, I get a really hot fire going to get the temp up past 400 and spray the CC down with water

I start with a chimney full of lump charcoal, dump that on the grate and add short sticks of seasoned oak, let that burn down mostly to a bed of coals, toss on another couple of sticks and let them get started pretty good then shut the lid and door leaving the damper wide open. After a few minutes I close the damper about halfway, come back in a few minutes and check the temp. I usually have to close the damper a bit more to get the temp around 230°. soon as she's stable, I toss on the meat

Interesting. Never thought of a post smoke washout. If you think of it next time she's fired up, I would like to see a picture of the fire going. Just trying to gauge if I am making a big enough fire. I can't seem to get my temp up over 300 (Certainly not 400) in the CC.

I might need a new grate as well... my FB grate sits really low and is warped from the years. There's only about an inch between the bottom of the grate and the FB floor. Once coals fall through, no good air flow is happening, so I am thinking that might be part of the issue as well. I can only seem to get a good fire right by the door. The rest of the box just smolders.

Interesting. Never thought of a post smoke washout. If you think of it next time she's fired up, I would like to see a picture of the fire going. Just trying to gauge if I am making a big enough fire. I can't seem to get my temp up over 300 (Certainly not 400) in the CC.

I might need a new grate as well... my FB grate sits really low and is warped from the years. There's only about an inch between the bottom of the grate and the FB floor. Once coals fall through, no good air flow is happening, so I am thinking that might be part of the issue as well. I can only seem to get a good fire right by the door. The rest of the box just smolders.

I've had this one to 450° before I did the heat shield over the FB opening and extended the stack downward. Tried to get the temp up to that this evening to do a cleanout and best I could get was 350°, so she doesn't draw like it did before the mods. My grate is about 4 inches above the bottom of the FB, so don't have a problem with ashes

Here is a pic of the fire to get things started. Once that burns down pretty good, I add a couple more sticks and let them get started before closing the lid and door on the FB. seems to work pretty good that way. YMMV

WOW! Thanks. Yea my grate is literally right on the bottom. Does anything hold up that grate, or is it just the side of the box as it narrows? There are some bolts in the side of the FB, but they seem higher than where your grill sits.

Here is mine (laughable now that I see yours).

So I think its obvious that the grate is an issue. That makes me happy to have validated the no air thought.

PS: Sorry for hijacking your thread with so many questions. I really appreciate it.

WOW! Thanks. Yea my grate is literally right on the bottom. Does anything hold up that grate, or is it just the side of the box as it narrows? There are some bolts in the side of the FB, but they seem higher than where your grill sits.

Here is mine (laughable now that I see yours).

So I think its obvious that the grate is an issue. That makes me happy to have validated the no air thought.

PS: Sorry for hijacking your thread with so many questions. I really appreciate it.

Not a problem. Glad I could help.

My grate is not the original and just sets against the edges of the FB. It isn't terribly heavy and will cave on me before too long. I plan to weld up something a bit heavier this winter while I'm not busy making jewelry